2017

We move forward from two successful exhibitions in 2016 in Prague and in the USA to the challenge of an exhibition in the Netherlands in the Autumn. We continue to work on A2 sized pieces in portrait format and will be producing four pieces over the year with the theme of 'Freedom'. An essential part of our art is working in series to a common format which does give us all a framework for our creative endeavours.

Friday 31 August 2012

Fireflies


My JIT piece (Just In Time..... at least by UK time!)  

Based on some designs I did when in Malaysia last year. I started with white, dyed it a terracotta shade then screenprinted with discharge paste to take some of the colour out. Then over dyed with blue and used the screen in a different way to print with metallic powder on top. Stitched the small irridescent insects with holographic thread - a real challenge for the machine tension! and the larger fireflies with metallic thread and then added gold leaf to bits of their bodies. 







This was a very rushed piece as I spent too long at the Festival of Quilts and had a lot of other stuff to do when I got home - but it did make me realise how much I enjoy the surface design stuff and the messy  but very creative development that ensues when realising a design idea. starting from white fabric.

Jean

5 comments:

  1. Well done Jean you made it in time!! This is beautiful, it makes me think of Tinkerbell in Peter Pan! Very ethereal and delicate. Did you know that starting with terracotta and over printing with blue it would end up such a lovely colour? At some time you must tell me about printing with metallic powder, sounds and looks wonderful!Have you just faced the edge or bound it? Can't quite see in the photo. Elaine in Combas.

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  2. Beautiful - how can mess produce such a controlled, understated piece?

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  3. Wow - great piece Jean. Holographiic thread - didn't see any of that when they let me out for 30 mins at FOQ!

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  4. Elaine - I used a light terracotta underneath to give a bit more depth to the later blue grey background - you can never tell whether it works or not until you do it!

    The metallic bronze powder is mixed with a medium - I always use ormaline as it is produced to work with gold leaf and metallic bases (except when I run out and I substitute fabric medium instead!). The consistencyis fine to usethrough a silk screen.

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  5. I love it, wish I knew how to do the metalics before I figured out an alternate way to get sort of what I wanted in my latest piece. It should be up in about a week. too much travel to be very productive.

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